Scoring Video in Cubase SX2...

[chuck sabbath]

Hi Kit (this question is open to anyone though)

ive imported an mpg file into cubase sx2. i have to create a musical score for it along with some sound fx...

in the "device setup" window, under the video player section, if i set the playback method to "direct show video" i cannot hear the audio from the video file. if i set it to "quicktime video" i can hear the audio but there's no way to control the level in the cubase mixer. so that's my first issue:

a) i would like to know how to control the level of the audio from the video file from within cubase

ok so as a workaround, i play it as a "quicktime video file" then record the audio into sound forge, using a rimshot at the first beat so as to easily sync the audio to the video file audio later on when i import the recorded audio file back into cubase

b) the problem is the audio eventually drops out of sync after a certain number of bars, any idea why this is happening?

ideally i would just like a solution for a) but am curious to know the reason for b) i'm sure that knowledge will come in handy later on...

thanks!

[KitC]

Hi chuck!

It took me a bit of time to recall the procedure, but when you import a video file, Cubase gives you the option to extract audio from that file (it should be a checkbox in the import dialog).

I tried to import a QT vid and it imported properly with sound being in sync; I was using the QT playback method. I tried an mpg which did not import properly; I suspect a bad codec in my system. I previously had success importing an .avi file but trying that today was met with failure.

One thing I used to do was to import the the audio from the video file separately. Unfortunately it was my brother who did the separation and I don't know what program he used at the time. Since Cubase imports .mov just fine while it imports the video from .avi only, it was a small matter to align the audio to the video.

If you are having problems with sync, look at the audio samplerate of the video file compared with your cubase project's sample rate; the 2 should be matched and this setting can be overlooked sometimes (even by me). Especially troublesome is when your project is at 44.1 while the imported audio is 48 khz.

[x_taxi]

If you are having problems with sync, look at the audio samplerate of the video file compared with your cubase project's sample rate; the 2 should be matched and this setting can be overlooked sometimes (even by me). Especially troublesome is when your project is at 44.1 while the imported audio is 48 khz.

this happened to me before while i was doin a TVC.  i was so stressed with tryin to meet the deadline and havin the aforementioned sync problem, that i didn't realize it was simply just a matter of mismatched samplerates.

 

[xjepoyx]

ok heres my 2 cents on this matter.

as i have been working as video editor for more than 10 years... i really dont find easy working with scoring videos using audio softwares.

For me its better use these video editing softwares instead such as AVID, Final Cut or Adobe Premiere.

In these video editing softwares you can actually add alot of audio tracks on the timeline... theres a mixer also that you can play around that you can automate

Anyway...

If by chance this becomes an OT. I'll gladly answer queries on how to get around with video editing/software thru PM

[KitC]

During the scoring phase, its far easier to use sequencer software. Nuendo is a prime example of software intended for that but Cubase is just as suited. I haven't tried using Sonar yet but it is more than capable as well. You just have to find the right medium sometimes. I guess it's better to request that the video be in 2 formats, quicktime and avi, just to be safe. You can also specify mpeg format but as a scorer, one should not attempt to render the video unless one uses Premier, Final Cut, or even Vegas.

Most video editing suites are post production tools anyway but are rather poor as scoring tools because they don't have immediate access to softsynths and midi. Cubase, Sonar, Logic, and PT allow you to view and score to movies; it's just that some of their viewing systems can be clunky. Cubase's implementation of directsound audio never really worked well for me. Usually ended up using Windows video playback or QT.

[chuck sabbath]

where can i check the sample rate of the audio in the video file? i dont have any video editing software....

i think i would rather create score in cubase rather than video editing sw for the reasons kit mentioned...its far more flexible, i guess kung simpleng score lang okey lang dun na sa video editor

i didnt see that audio dialog box when importing the video cause i just dragged it in from explorer, but i tried it now for both mpg and avi files and it said "the audio streams could not be imported" i suppose its bad codecs on my part too or maybe the encoding of the video

anyway i guess my workaround will have to do, its not too far out of sync naman...

thanks guys! kung may ideas pa just drop them here...okey na din siguro dito jepoy para reference na din para sa mga interesado

[KitC]

If you have audio editing software like Audition, it can grab audio from a video file. Supported formats are avi, wmv, mpeg and asf. At least with editor software, it will show you the sample rate and you can resample and save the grabbed audio.

[chuck sabbath]

no the workaround (importing the audio file separately into its own track) wont work because when i adjust the tempo of course it wont be in sync with the video anymore

haay i just want to be able to control the level of the audio in the video...never mind don't have time to mess around anymore...thanks anyway guys...

[KitC]

no the workaround (importing the audio file separately into its own track) wont work because when i adjust the tempo of course it wont be in sync with the video anymore

If you were working in midi prior to mixing down, this shouldn't be a problem. Too bad SX2 doesn't have SX3's Audiowarp feature.